AMERICAN EMPIRE 

by Phenix Benton & Charles Magee.   


This scenario was originally designed by Charles Magee. I saw it sometime later and noted the fine detail in its map and was inspired to further hone and perfect it. This scenario presents the situation at the opening of the campaign season, 1860. For a fuller discussion of ideas, theory, and placement, see the final sections of this file. For clarity's sake; words w/ []  around them are DEFAULT techs, units, etc. Hope you enjoy it.   
Exile1957@aol.com (Exile), a.k.a. Phenix Benton

THE UNITS;
	Most everything has been changed, and even some units that look 
	familiar now have different capabilities. There are 3 types of 
	settler units, not just two, and a variety of different ship types,
	dependent upon a player's tech. The units are generalist, w/the idea
	that any unit could appear anywhere (given the assigned technologies
	at the start) and not look incongruous. 

Infantry Units;
	Everyone except the natives start out w/gunpowder and the Militia
	unit. The graphic was chosen deliberately to reflect the brightly-
	colored uniforms of the formal military and the paramilitary 
	groups of the period. The Rifled Muskets will become the mainstay 
	of most armies, w/a decent attack and the standard 4 infantry 
	defense. Marines can be built w/Amphibious Warfare, but are 
	expensive. Later on Mercenaries will become available w/good attack
	and defense, though again, expensive. Infantry units, available w/
	Modern Arms, are WWI era troops armed w/repeating rifled carbines. 

Horse Units;
	Yes, the Dragoon and Cavalry units have had their names switched.
	The graphic for the default Dragoon shows a SABRE-wielding rider
	on a GALLOPING horse. This was standard military doctrine at the 
	time of Napoleon. During the American Civil War, this doctrine of
	CHARGING cavalry, armed w/sabres, gave way to the doctrine of the 
	mounted infantryman, the "dragoon." The default Cavalry graphic
	shows a DISMOUNTED soldier in an INFANTRYMAN'S uniform. In this
	scenario, the Dragoon unit replaces the Cavalry unit w/ the Tactics
	tech. The Elite Horse unit represents portions of larger armies that
	were elite fighting forces; "Stonewall" Jackson's Brigade, or the
	Rough Riders. This unit is very mobile and effective, though 
	expensive. The Guerillas unit, available w/Guerilla Warfare, is NOT
	Guerillas. (Irregulars are the default [Guerillas]). This is a highly
	mobile, irregular striking force, often composed on the spot for the
	purposes of combating "Indian uprisings." Lt. Colonel Chivington
	exemplifies this brand of unauthorized, often bloodthirsty
	native-fighting "volunteer" units. In the game, they are good for
	fighting the natives. Maybe you can find other uses.

Artillery Units;
	Union and Confederates start w/Cannons and Horse Artillery. The 
	Cannons have hitting power, but the Horse Artillery can move and
	fire, and has a good defense. Explosives, (Which obsoletes "slavery")
	makes the Siege Mortar available. The Mortar looks weak, but its 
	high firepower and its ability to ignore city walls make it almost
	essential for rapid conquest. The Rifled Cannons unit can be built
	w/Machine Tools and has better firepower than its predecessors.
	Coastal Gun is a great idea I borrowed from Scen League-it shoots 
	only at ships in adjacent squares; build them, then put them on 
	sentry, they can't be carried by ships, and won't "come alive" until
	a hostile naval unit approaches too close. Then the Coastal Guns can
	open up. Combined w/the Coastal fortress improvement, it provides for
	a layered, multi-level Coastal defense. The Artillery unit represents
	the WWI era artillery that proved so deadly in 1914. It has a high 
	attack and obsoletes the other artillery types. The Landclad unit is
	the Tank of the scenario, but its movement is only 1. It has a very
	high attack and defense and the slow movement means that its attacks
	are NOT halved by troops w/the "pikes" anti-cavalry defense bonus,
	but is more expensive than normal. The Gatling Gun unit is a cheap,
	high defense unit that never goes obsolete. Military theorists of the
	period thought that such weapons would only be effective against
	"natives" and other "uncivilized" peoples. You can test this theory. 

Nautical Units;
	The latter half of the 19th century saw rapid nautical technology 
	turnover. In 1854, the Crimean War allies were all using wooden war
	vessels. By 1900 the idea of a wooden vessel of war was laughable.
	The scenario has many units, all different, each with its own 
	strengths and weaknesses. There are several types of early sailing 
	ships, Sloops, Cargo Ships, Clipper Ships. Steam Engine tech changes
	this windpowered lineup and provides a whole new range of ship types.
	All the carrying vessels are superseded by the cheaper and more 
	durable Steam Yacht unit. The Yacht is also meant to represent the 
	blockade runners. I stayed away from civ-specific units because I
	did not want to see "blockade runner" units built by Mexico or the 
	Union. Riverboats are slow-moving, cheap riverine boats, still 
	capable of carrying a significant number of troops. The Gunboat unit,
	available w/Industrialization tech, represents the iron-plated, 
	riverine, hybrid warships of varying types, sizes, and descriptions.
	They were all largely ineffective, but they were armored, and they 
	can carry a few troops. The Ironclad unit represents not only the 
	famous C. S. S. Virginia, but also the Eads casemate ironclads and
	even the French "gun platforms/barges" used in the Crimean War. The
	unit is relatively slow but very durable, useful for reducing thinly
	defended enemey coastlines. The Monitor unit represents the other 
	type of ironclad, characterized by higher speed and mobility and
	usually sporting rifled cannon/s firing shells rather than cannon-
	balls. The Monitor unit is weaker than the Ironclad, but its 2
	firepower evens the odds in a duel. Both these ironclad units have 3
	hit points, a clear edge over all the wooden ships, which never have
	more than 2 hit points. The Steam Warship graphic actually looks like
	the hybrid steam/sail ships of the era, and is the standard military
	naval unit at the start of the scenario. It is obsoleted with the 
	discovery of the Steam Turbine tech and the Steam Frigate. The Steam
	Frigate is not as robust as the ironclads, but it is an ocean-going
	vessel w/5 movement, some carrying capacity, and substantial hitting
	power.  All the old steam types are obsoleted by various techs,
	including Smokeless Powder and Armor Plate. These two techs make the 
	Light Cruiser and Armored Cruiser units available, respectively. The 	Light Crusier represents steel, turbine-driven warships carrying guns 	of 4-6 inch size. They are faster than anything prior and have good 	defense and attack numbers. The Armored Cruiser represents the 		heavily-armored early warhips, sometimes called "armored cruisers" 	sometimes called "pre-dreadnoughts," depending upon the sizes of the 	guns carried, which varied from 8 inches to as much as 12 inches.  	The Dreadnought, Destroyer, and Battlecruiser units are fairly easy 	to understand; early 20th century warships utilizing contemporary 	state of the art weaponry and armor plate. These modern warships are 	very expensive in this scenario. The Ocean Liner is the default 	[Transport], though a little more expensive. The Steamer unit 		represents the various "tramp steamers" so often mentioned in quaint 	travel stories from the period. It can carry only 2 units, but is 	fast and cheap.  

Aerial Units;
	The air units arrive VERY late in the game. Flight's basic tech pre-
	requisites are now Theory of Gravity and SPIRIT OF THE AGE, a new 
	tech, one located very high up the branches of the tech tree. The 
	early flight techs, Flight and Aeronautics, are applied, not military
	techs, but do make available the Aeroplane and Airship units, 
	respectively. The aeroplane is representative of the early 
	"contraption" type of aircraft, whereas the Airship is clearly an 
	advanced design. The Airship has a good attack, and (for air units)
	a good defense, but its real advantage is its RANGE. A range of 4
	means that these craft can cross continents or conduct prolonged 
	bombardments. Advanced Flight is a military tech and the Bomber and
	Monoplane units come with it. The Bomber has a lower movement number
	(5) so its effective range is much more limited. The Monoplane is a
	speedy, manueverable craft clearly outclassing its earlier variant,
	the Aeroplane. These units are much more expensive than normal.   

Native American Units;
	The native units are all tied to techs located very far down on the
	tech tree. All other nations will have long since obsoleted these 
	units. Chieftains gives the native player both a new form of
	government, [Monarchy] and also the pinnacle native unit, the 
	Warchiefs. The Warchiefs unit represents famous and effective Native
	American Leaders like Crazy Horse, Black Kettle, Quannah Parker, and
	Geronimo. The War Party units represent the difference between
	natives armed w/firearms and those without. The effect is enhanced
	by the new trade labels; the natives, especially at the start, tend
	to want liquor, clothing, and RIFLES. The natives will go through
	these early techs relatively quickly with tech research eventually
	"funnelling" into the Frontier tech. Frontier obsoletes all the
	native units and allows the building of Frontiersmen and Scout units.
	The Frontiersmen, though not good, is clearly better than any of the
	native units. The native player can then begin to transform a
	"native" civ into more of a "frontier" civ. The illusion is
	heightened by the Banditry tech, which has been obsoleted everywhere
	but Mexico (who WILL field armies of bandits!) but gives an
	aggressive (and tech-deficient) native player the ability to field
	some effective troops against tech-superior enemies. Small piece of
	advice for the willing native player; it can be fun, but be sure to
	look closely at the altered tech tree--it will be a long, long time
	before you can reach industrialization.

Other Units;
	There are 3 settler-type units. The Slave/Peon is located in the
	settler slot. It is obsoleted (abolition) w/the Explosives tech which
	also makes the standard Engineer unit available, though the graphic
	for this unit has been changed. The Pioneer is meant to be used for 
	westward expansion. It moves 2 but has the terrain bonus which means
	that it effectively moves 6. Although the unit has a 1 attack factor,
	I don't think anyone will be leading charges with it. 4 or 5 big 
	industrial cities can produce 10 of these units in as many turns. 
	They can then use extant railroads to reach the western frontier, and
	in 2 or 3 turns a whole series of insignificant western state 
	capitals can be established. GO WEST, young civ! The Pioneer is 	Available w/the Revivalism tech. The Scout, available w/Frontier,
	is a cheap, fast-moving unit w/good recon capabilities. If you want 
	to fight "Indians," create an army w/2-3 cavalry type units and 3 or
	4 Scouts. The Scouts will do exactly what they were meant to do, 
	prevent your striking force from being ambushed by fast-moving native
	raiders. Striking at natives in the west will prove problematic 
	without Scouts, especially on the higher settings. The Diplomat is 
	the default, ideal for the period; a leering little figure in gaudy 
	dress, but only becomes available w/Democracy, not Writing. The Spy
	is also the default, w/the graphic being the bomb-throwing anarchist
	type. During this period, 2 U. S. Presidents, Garfield and McKinley,
	were gunned down by pistol-wielding anarchist dissidents. I set the
	Cargo unit [Freight] to come along very late in the tech tree, but it
	might arrive w/Big Business [Corporation] anyway. About Slaves/Peons;
	in the Confederacy, the identity of these units is clear. On the west
	coast, these units are actually Chinese laborers. In Mexico;
	(obviously) Peons. In the Union; yes, the Union starts w/a few
	slaves. As a Union player, however, you may think of these units as 	Free-roving labor gangs, composed at this time mainly of displaced 	native Americans whose original homelands had existed EAST of the
	Appalachians, and free blacks (many of whom became whaling sailors).
	On the Caribbean islands, peonage was the practice. 

Technology Tree;
	The tech tree has been substantially revised in some areas, and left
	relatively intact in others. There are suprises. Mysticism is not 
	Mysticism. There are some rather snide and cynical attempts at humor
	buried in the branches of the tree, but it is entirely functional 
	and is clearly representative of the period. There is not much 
	religion in the tree, except at the most primitive level. This is 
	because the 19th century was a time in which prevailing ideological
	doctrines had ALL lost credibility. New ideologies appeared to suit 	the temper (and capabilities) of the industrialized nations. Just 	when it became clear that, "Whatever happens/we have got/the Maxim 	gun/and they have not," thinkers like Nietzsche came along and seemed 	to justify the idea that superior might makes superior right. 		Brightly-colored civil war-era uniforms, like the Dreadnought fetish 	of later years, were symptomatic of something that persons living in 	the nuclear age have difficulty understanding--the cultural 		fascination w/WAR. Ideologies advanced to justify military 		capabilities. But, like our own period, there was a culture war 	within western civilization. Large populations generated potentially 	large discontent, and the game reflects this, as well as the various 	ideological twists and turns required to advance the overall tech. A 	player may, with diligence and careful micromanagement, acquire many 	of the early military techs, but the higher advances will take some 	time. It is entirely possible that the player cannot advance up the 	entire tree, getting every tech before 1900. In that case, chosing 	techs carefully has special priority.  There are some surprises for 	some players with the ideological techs regarding popular discontent, 	but rather than explicitly explain them, I'll leave them to be 		discovered.

City Improvements;
	The Steel Mill is the [power plant] renamed, and more expensive
	The Labor Union is the [recycling plant] renamed, and more expensive
	The Church is the [temple] renamed
	The Theatre is the [colusseum] renamed and moved higher on the tree
	The Train Station is the [superhighways] renamed, and more expensive,
		and moved lower on the tree, to Railroad. Some may question
		this movement of a powerful economic improvement to a 
		substantially lower position on the tree, but to any scholar
		of the period, there is little doubt of the profound impact 
		of major railroad installations on local economies. Think of 
		these (if built) as the general and overall impact of the 
		nationwide railroad-enhanced economy. They are expensive
		however, indicative of the capital-intensive nature of the 
		the railroad industry.
	The Fortifications is the [city walls] renamed
	The Military Camp is the [barracks] renamed
	The Water Supply is the [aquaduct] renamed
	The School is the [library] renamed
	The Mill Dam is the [hydro plant] renamed, and more expensive
	The Iron Foundry is the [factory] renamed
	The Industrial Complex is the [manufacturing plant] renamed, Way Exp.
	The Munitions Plant is the [nuclear plant] renamed. ("nuclear
		meltdown" is actually an explosion! This still happens!
		and the [Fusion] tech (Airparks) is just about the last
		tech on the tree, so it will be awhile before one is safe.)
	The Government Regulation is the [solar plant] renamed and more exp.
	The World Port is [offshore platform] renamed and more expensive
	The Warehouse is the [granary] renamed
	The Capital is the [palace] renamed, and more expensive
	The Farms is the [supermarket] renamed
	The Stadium is the [Cathedral] renamed
		
Wonders;
	King Cotton is the [Eiffel Tower] renamed, but cheaper; buy it, and
	things might begin to look up, diplomatically speaking. Motion
	Pictures is [cure for cancer]; it may be a while before anyone can
	build this. Secret Police is [women's suffrage] renamed. The Secret 	Police sure does tend to quiet people down in a republic, so there is 	good reason for everyone in the game to attempt to build this wonder. 	The natives can actually reach Republic and can, upon occasion, form 	an "Indian" or "Frontier" Republic. Reaching Espionage is another 	thing. There is tremendous incentive for Mexico to reach a republic 	form of government. Additionally, the Secret Police DOES NOT become 	available w/Industrialization, but instead w/Espionage. So the 		potential proliferation of Spies tends to generate the race to build 	a Secret Police. It is more expensive than the default, though.

Spirit of the Age;
	Some important points to make;
	1.) This is a GENERALIST scenario. All units could appear anywhere,
	according to the tech scheme, and not be out of place. Example; the 
	Bandits unit will only appear in Mexico, and later, should the native
	player survive, out west. But the Steam Warships graphic could easily 
	represent any of the Euro-American vessels of war. I did not want
	a "General Grant" or a "Mosby's Raiders" unit because these ideas can
	be accounted for by customizing the overall unit mix. Additionally,
	There was potential to think about. What if the South succeeds in
	fending off the assaults of the Union long enough for a peace treaty
	to come from Lincoln? The alternative Confederacy should, ideally
	continue to climb the tech tree, and, like any other civ, attempt to
	capitalize on strengths while reorganizing to deal w/weaknesses, 
	maybe even peacefully competing to populate the transmississippi 
	west. This might prove difficult if all it can produce are Civil War
	units. Civ2 is a game about warfare, but also about the advance of 
	technology and ideology. The ways that we think about the things we
	do and the tools that we use to do those things are often the 
	deciding points in an historical conflict. Nineteenth-century
	European weapon technology reached a point of clear superiority over
	the weapon technologies available in other parts of the globe 
	sometime around 1850. The Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 was so brutally put
	down by enraged British soldiers and their allies that once-mighty
	India would never consider open, armed rebellion again. Imperial 
	China, dreaming unmolested in the inscrutable east, had its forces 
	shattered in a matter of minutes by British guns during the 1848 
	Opium War. These years saw unprecedented social upheavals in all the
	Western nations and in Latin America. Africa, an entire continent, 
	was divided up by European diplomats in the 1880s. The fact was, that
	during this period, THE WORLD WAS UP FOR GRABS! But regional power
	struggles could often prove (especially from a game-play viewpoint)
	more interesting than the Great War, which closed the era. In no 
	other period could a French monarch, Napoleon III, make such a bald-
	faced geopolitical "grab" as that of 1861. But the fever to seize, to
	conquer, was everywhere. American-based "Filibusteros" (spanish for
	pirate) actually sought to carve their own nations out of Latin 
	American jungles. Some actually succeeded for a while in the 1840s
	and 50s. Ideology was a vital component in a complex phenomenon known
	as Imperialism. The new tech tree clearly reflects this idea. 
	2.) The game program is going to perform the way that it performs.
	We must accept, at least as scenario designers, that this little fact
	cannot be changed. It seems then, that the best way to design a 
	scenario is to find a period, place, and political mix in which the 
	Contemporary powers fought like rats in a basket. The AI players are
	going to fight like rats in a basket, so find an historical situation
	where that rat-basket fighting actually fits well with the historical 
	feel that the scen-designer is trying to create. The period and 
	locality chosen for this scenario ideally suits that vision. Even if
	the Confederacy and the Union had fought to a standstill, it is 
	unlikely that a peaceful coexistence would have lasted for long.
	Mexico was continually on the verge of government takeover by various
	groups professing various ideologies, but who seemed more interested
	w/simple, raw power. The Europeans were looking at the world itself
	through new eyes; the eyes of unchallengeable strength. As long as
	the Monroe Doctrine was enforceable, they were held at bay. With no
	force behind the Doctrine, who is to say how far the Europeans might
	have gone toward dominating the region? Whatever the game is going to
	do, and no matter how successful, (or not) the player is, no results
	are going to look too Bizarre (hopefully). 
	3.)Native Americans; much has already been explained. There is a
	little more. The native player position can be fun. Try to wreak as 
	much havoc as possible; plunder wherever you can, especially destroy
	roads and railroads; play off one advanced power against the others;
	Demand tribute! If they give you techs, it will always be better than
	whatever you already have; concentrate your fast-moving cavalry units
	into large groups, preferbly w/a war chief or two at the center, then
	ambush enemy expeditions sent against you; try to reach Frontier tech
	as soon as possible, then Banditry. If you're not going to play the 
	natives, then you'll realize something pretty quick; it doesn't take
	long to systematically raze the native settlements and destroy entire
	regions' native populations. Oddly enough, these two outcomes work
	well within the context of the game, historically speaking. The
	player can take the role of either Custer or the Sioux, each side
	w/its own limitations and strengths. Set on King or higher, the
	AI natives can be more than just pests.
	4.) By now, you probably don't want to see "more expensive" again.
	There is a reason. Too often, late game production levels fill the 
	seas w/naval units and vast hordes of rifle-carrying soldiers of all
	description roam freely about the countryside of their respective 
	nations. There's no elbow room. This is unacceptably unrealistic and
	BAD from a gameplay viewpoint. A plethora of units available to build
	and a host of expensive improvements all force the civ2 player to 
	think carefully about production. With all those units, which one is
	going to address one's current military difficulties most
	effectively? Where to invest that carefully-hoarded 500 credits?
	rush-build a Mill Dam? or rush-build a Train Station? Because the
	costs prohibit purchasing both, players must be more selective, more
	purposeful in their production orders. Instead of a continent full of
	cities all having identical improvement lists, more costly
	improvements will induce players to find regional, specific
	applications of improvements, that generate enhanced results. This
	regional specialization was at the heart of Adam Smith's "Wealth of
	Nations." And, let's face it; the AI is going to purchase only the
	BEST (according to its own ruthless logic) unit for its purposes, so
	a wide variety of unit choices shouldn't be a problem.
	5.) HISTORY. History buffs like to focus on the dramatic aspects of
	the past, the wars primarily. According to the Sociobiological school
	of anthropology, it appears that the creation, use, and even 
	veneration of weaponry might well stretch back into a past remote by 
	millions of years. The evolution of man might well have had, as one 
	of its many conditions, the development of warfare. Ask the 
	australopithicines, if you can find one nowadays. However, historians
	must look closely at every aspect of a period. Any historian of this
	period (late 19th century America) will tell you instantly that the
	driving force behind this era was massive and rapid industrialization
	of the eastern seaboard and the development of the midwest/great
	lakes region. Westward expansion was a marginal aspect of the 		history. There were some impressive sights; one account of a 
	traveler to central Kansas in the 1880s spoke of being able to see 
	the dust clouds of no less than 30 different herds of driven cattle
	observed from a single vantage point on a low hill! But the idea that
	"westward expansion," or "manifest destiny" was something more than
	simply yellow-journal hyperbole on one hand, or the self-serving 
	justifications of American imperialists of the period on the other,
	is naive. The driving force of the period, historically, was not
	NECESSARILY warfare, but instead development, technology, and trade.
	This idea works especially well with the civ2 game. You have options.

CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE!
	So many places where I've borrowed things. I read in an Apolyton 	forum that some players are bothered by graphics sets with unusual 	combinations. My sympathies. How does a scenario designer then 		determine just which units are jarring or out-of-place? Aren't these 	just designers' judgement calls based on personal interpretations of 	specific histories? There is a reason for every unit I placed in the 	mix. I've taken unit, city, wonder, and improvement graphics from 	scenarios everywhere. Here are a few of the sources for the graphics 	that I used. If I left anyone out, it was entirely inadvertent.

	The Great Game, by Michael J. Daumen
	Colonial Wars Scenario, by Sable (Jesus Balsinde?)
	Imperialism 1884, by Mattias Pitz 
	Seven Years War, by Peter Robbins (the Native Am cities' graphics are
		so cool, but I mixed and matched them. I didn't want to see 
		hogans as the final urban graphic on the great plains, AND I
		wanted to use that GREAT cliff-dweller/Mesa Verde-type city
		graphic.)
	American Civil War, Captain Nemo and Alex the Magnificent (The amount
		of effort and thought that went into this one is staggering.
		What an accomplishment! I borrowed cities' graphics, and some
		unit graphics; the Riverboat and Sloop, for example.)
	Alba de America, by Jesus Balsinde (A Master at the art of Scenario 		design.)
	MGE Civil War scenario
	MGE World War I scenario
	MGE Jules Verne scenario
	
	If I forgot anyone, please let me know and I'll change this file to 
	give full credit.

Thanks also to Bernd Brosing, who converted the title page from bmp to gif format.
Thanks also to Carl Fritz, who fixed the "bronze age" problem when I was unable to do so.
	     